The Upper Iowa men's soccer team powered through a physical match and scored three goals in the second half in a 3-0 shutout victory over Northern Michigan University. The Peacocks improve to 5-3-0 (2-3-0 GLIAC) on the year with the win, while the Wildcats drop to a 1-5-2 (1-3-1 GLIAC) record with the loss.
The match featured a great deal of physicality in the first half as Northern Michigan was whistled for nine fouls while Upper Iowa was whistled for seven. The Peacocks powered through the physicality and recorded six shots, including two on goal, while also earning three corner kicks in the first period. The Wildcats were held without a shot or corner kick opportunity through the first 45 minutes as UIU controlled the tempo.
The Wildcats made a dangerous attack deep into the UIU box early in the second period, but the Peacocks played it out as NMU earned their first corner kick at the 49:15 mark. The attempt was unfruitful as a foul on NMU gave the ball back to UIU, leaving the visitors without a shot. The Peacocks would not take long to answer with an attack of their own that saw Stan Cargill play a beautiful ball to Italo Martins Soares deep into NMU territory. Soares delivered a pass pass to Alan Dunlop who was able to make a move and draw a defender before assisting Cain Smith on the first goal of the match at the 51:05 mark to put UIU ahead 1-0.
Neither team was able to get much going over the next few minutes as more whistled slowed down the pace of play. Upper Iowa had the next dangerous goal-scoring chance early in the 70th minute when Tate Lofdahl blew by the defense and had on a one-on-one opportunity that Northern Michigan was able to save. The Peacocks would not take long to get their next chance as Martins Soares sliced through the Wildcat defense in the 73rd minute and scored to double the UIU lead to 2-0.
The game continued to be physical as fouls broke up the pace, but the UIU defense was able to break up any momentum that NMU looked to collect as the Peacocks held the visitors without a shot until the 87:15 mark that was off-target. One minute before that lone Wildcat attempt, the Peacocks were able to tack on another goal after Carson Cajuste cleaned up an errant throw in from Northern Michigan and gave Upper Iowa a 3-0 lead at the 86:14 mark.
UIU put another dangerous shot on goal in the 90th minute that was saved by NMU, and the combination of offense and defense led to a 3-0 shutout win for Upper Iowa as they secured their second win in as many tries.
PEACOCKS OF THE GAME...
- Cain Smith put UIU on the board with the first goal of the match in the 52nd minute. Smith's second go-ahead, game-winning goal in as many matches propelled the Peacocks to a pair of GLIAC victories. The midfielder also played all but two minutes in the match to help secure the shutout.
- Italo Martins Soares scored his team-leading sixth goal of the season in the 73rd minute to put UIU up 2-0. Martins Soares' six scores are good for the second-best total in the conference.
- Alan Dunlop's assist on Smith's go-ahead goal was his fifth of the season. Dunlop leads the Peacocks in that category, and his five dimes are tied for the third-best mark in the GLIAC.
- Carson Cajuste scored the first goal of his collegiate career in the 87th minute to give the Peacocks a 3-0 lead.
- Osvaldo Alonzo secured a shutout in his second start of the season. Though Alonzo did not have to make any saves on shots, the goalkeeper did make multiple nice plays to end dangerous attacks by the opponents.
STATS OF THE GAME...
- Upper Iowa held Northern Michigan to just two shots in the match, and neither attempt was on target. The Peacocks had a 6-0 (two on goal) shot advantage in the first half and an 11-2 (five on goal) advantage in the second period.
- The Peacocks earned six corner kicks while allowing just two to the Wildcats.
- UIU withstood a physical match that saw NMU get whistled for 18 fouls while the Peacocks were called for 14.
UP NEXT... The Peacocks host the University of Wisconsin - Parkside on Sunday, Oct. 3 at 2 p.m. in the team's second match of Upper Iowa's homecoming weekend.
